Cockroaches are part of the order DICTYOPTERA and of the sub-order
BLATTODEA. They are rather flat insects with quite long antennae
and also long spiky legs, boy!! can they move. Most of them
have wings but can only fly when temperatures are quite high. Generally
speaking, cockroaches are omnivorous, in other words they will eat
anything, including each other if there is no other food source available.
Cockroaches are regarded as a primitive
insects and fossil species from the Carboniferous period, that's about
250 million years ago, are very like those known today. There
are about 3,500 different species of cockroach with the vast majority
living in the open and almost never coming into contact with man.
The majority of cockroaches are tropical with only a few small species
native to our wonderful climate, but those tropical ones which have
found their way here, in the last 200 hundred years, are pretty much
dependant upon our heated buildings, especially hospitals, laundries
and kitchens where conditions are hot and steamy.
Cockroaches are very gregarious,
like to party and boogey on down, yeah man..!!, and they emit an aggregation
pheromone, in other words a gathering together smell, which is why
you see lots of them together when there is a problem. On this
page I am only going to cover the four main species which give us
problems in the U.K.
DISTRIBUTION:
Cockroaches are common in commercial premises associated with the
production or handling of food. Also in public buildings and domestic
premises eg blocks of flats. Gregarious and nocturnal, they spend
the day hiding in cracks and crevices around such areas as sinks,
drains, cookers, the backs of cupboards and in refrigerator motor
compartments. They especially favour buildings with service ducts
and complex plumbing installations. Infestations may be introduced
as egg cases or adults in incoming laundry, on raw materials, in crates
and packaging, or arise as the insects enter buildings via such routes
as drains or refuse chutes.
SIGNIFICANCE:
Cockroaches are potential vectors of diseases such as dysentery, gastroenteritis,
typhoid and poliomyelitis. Their diet is omnivorous and includes fermenting
substances, soiled septic dressings, hair, leather, parchment, wallpaper,
faeces and food for human consumption. The latter may be contaminated
either by the mechanical transfer of causative agents of disease from
the insect’s body, or by transmission in the faeces. An outbreak
of food poisoning in a Brussels hospital subsided immediately an infestation
of B. germanica was controlled.
Cockroaches and their faeces may cause
allergic reactions especially amongst sensitive individuals eg asthmatics.
Exposure may result from ingestion or through the inhalation of materials
derived from cockroaches in airborne dust. In addition, food may be
tainted with the characteristic smell of the cockroach, which is produced
by faeces and salivary/abdominal gland secretions, or by the dead
insects.
If you have any problems or queries
then please email me by clicking on the Piedpiper below...also below
is a quick synopsis of various cockroach details...
Name of
Cockroach |
Size |
Ootheca |
Egg
Days |
Nymphs |
Adults live |
No. of Egg Capsules |
Egg
Case Habit |
American
Periplaneta americana |
35-40 mm
(1.5-2") |
16 eggs
(16-28) |
30-45
days |
5-15 moults.
(7-13 molts) |
100 days
(2-3 years) |
10-90 |
glues case to object |
Austrailian
Periplaneta australasiae |
27-33 mm
(3/4-1") |
22-24 eggs |
40 days |
6-12 moults.
(9-12 molts) |
4-6 mo. |
20-30 |
glues case to object |
German
Blatella germanica |
10-15 mm
(5/7")
| 37-44 eggs |
1.5 days |
30-60 days
(125 days)
(5-7 moults) |
100 days
In a home over a year |
4-8 |
carries case to
1 day before
hatching |
Brownbanded
Supella longipalpa |
10-14 mm
(1/2") |
16 eggs |
74 days, @ 25° C
43 days, @ 27.5° C
35 days, @ 30° C |
55 days
(6-8 moults) |
90-115 days
30° C |
10-20 |
drops case |